Nero is a pale, slim man, wearing a striking attire consisting of a dark-brown T-shirt, orange pants, decorated shoes and a hat adorned with a red plume. He has two necklaces around his neck, a simple one composed of green beads, and a bigger and more elaborate one, which consists of many red jewels linked together. He wears a glove on his left hand, and bracelets around the wrist.[2] He has an unique hairstyle, with a bald top crossed by three mohawk-like strips.[1]
Having undergone the customary training of CP9 agents, he is a calm and collected individual, seen with the casual way he spoke with Franky when they fought. Nonetheless, he is not above displaying his emotions, such as anger at being tricked, fear in the face of inevitable pain, or exasperation in the face of Franky's antics. Additionally, Nero appears to be less hardened than the other agents, as he easily believed Franky's lie when he asked what was behind him, just so that he could sucker punch him. Beneath his calm exterior, he has a measure of arrogance, thinking that knowing four of the six forms of Rokushiki made him a "superhuman" that could be in the same league as the other, full-fledged CP9 agents. When Rob Lucci expelled Nero from the group with a death threat, Nero became horrified and made a failed attempt to run away.[5]
Abilities and Powers[]
Nero, while not very strong compared to the other, fully-trained CP9 agents, was still quite intelligent, since he figured out that the attackers on the Puffing Tom would try going along the roofs of the train cars in order to reach the one containing Nico Robin as easily as possible,[2] and he was able to quickly deduce that Franky was vulnerable to attacks aimed at his back.[6]
As Nero was still a new recruit, his training incomplete, he only could use four of the six Rokushiki techniques:[5] Soru, Geppo, Kami-e, and Rankyaku. His lack of Tekkai and Shigan made him unable to block powerful strikes and pierce opponents, respectively. To compensate, he evaded enemy strikes carefully with Soru, Geppo, and Kami-e; for offense, along with slashing with Rankyaku,[7] he used a pair of pistols instead of stabbing with his fingers. He was at least skillful enough to have one variation of Rankyaku.[6]
Regardless of his creative improvising and analytical nature, his lack of mastery of Rokushiki caused Rob Lucci to claim Nero was "worthless" to the unit, leading to Nero's dismissal.[5]
Weapons[]
Nero's derringers.
To compensate for his lack of Shigan, Nero wielded a pair of derringer flintlocks.[6]
History[]
Water 7 Saga[]
Water 7 Arc[]
Franky defeats Nero.
Nero was among the Cipher Pol agents and Marines escorting Nico Robin to Enies Lobby. As the Puffing Tom left Water 7, Nero rode in the third car. During the journey, he was awoken from his nap when a report came in that the criminals had escaped and were causing problems on the train.[1] Nero chose to wait atop his car for the criminals in case they tried to skip over his car. When only Franky showed up, Nero was disappointed since Franky was the only one he was not allowed to kill. After Nero introduced himself, Franky tricked him into looking behind him and then sucker punched him.[2] As the two fought, they were confused by each other's strange abilities.[7] When Nero launched himself up into the air in order to evade Franky's Master Nails, Franky pretended to run for the next car. As Nero leaped back to the train, Franky fired at him again; however, Nero had anticipated Franky's trick and maneuvered to behind Franky. Having realized that Franky's back was unprotected, Nero began focusing his attacks at this weak point and evading Franky's counterattacks. Franky placed his back against the roof of the train car and then decided to demonstrate his centaur-like transformation, which Nero found shocking due to its backwards appearance.[6] However, the transformation did not appear to help Franky in the fight, and Nero managed to knock him off the edge of the car. As Franky clung to the edge, Nero offered to help him back up, but when Nero got closer, Franky flipped himself back up and restrained Nero's arms and legs with his four legs, pinning Nero down on the roof of the car. With Nero unable to move, Franky hit Nero in the face with Ultimate Hammer, breaking the roof and dropping them both into the car.
Lucci attacks Nero.
Franky then kicked Nero into the second car, where the other CP9 agents were. Nero got back up and stated that he would kill Franky, but Rob Lucci would not allow this and cautioned Nero about his emotions since they were supposed to capture Franky alive. Unwilling to tolerate Nero's weakness further, Lucci gave him three seconds to escape. Nero tried to run, but Lucci was faster and stabbed Nero multiple times in the back with Shigan. Nero's wounded body was then thrown into the ocean during the Aqua Laguna, one of the biggest storms in the world, and Lucci had Kalifa write a report expelling Nero from CP9.[5]
Nero is the Italian word for "black." It was also the name of a tyrannical Roman Emperor.
Nero has a weasel theme, due to his nickname, whiskers, ear-like hair, and tendency to say "shao" (a weasel noise) when he speaks.[2]
Nero resembles a Kamaitachi, a demonic weasel that can manipulate wind from Japanese folklore. This is because he resembles a weasel, and has the agility (Geppo), flexibility (Kami-e), speed (Soru), and capability of launching air slashes (Rankyaku).
Nero was the only member of the CP9 not to have a picture of what he looked like as a child featured in SBS Volume 44, nor to have his Doriki stated by Fukurou.
In the 3th, 4th, and 7th popularity polls, Nero ranked at 98th, 122nd, and 376th place respectively.
